Improvement in steering apparatus



iiuztrd ,gratte @anni ctyiyiiw,

CHARLES GODFREY GrUil/IPIIL,4 OF NO 49, LEIQESTERy SQUARE, ENGLAND.

Letters Patent No. 106,358, dated August 16, 1870; patented ira-England November 2, 186).

VIMPROVEMENT IN STEERING APPARATUS.

To all whom fit outyoncern.-

Be it knownthat I, CHARLES GODFREY G UMPEL,

No. 49, Leicester Square, in the county of Middlesex, England, have invented an Improved Construction' of Ships"Ru'dders,and Steering-Gear tberefor;

and hereby declare that the following description, taken mlconnection with the accompanying drawing, hereinafter referred to, forms a 4full and exact specica'tion ot' Athe same, wherein I have set forth the nature' and principles of n'iy fsaid improvement, by'

which myinvcntion may be distinguished from others -of a similar class, together with such parts as I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent; that is to say: f f

AThe amount of power required for. dedecting ordinaryrudders was the' cause of the adoption of the socalled balancd vor differential rudder,jwherein 'the vacting surface of the rudder was ,situated equally, `ornearly soLon each side of the rudderfshaft.

rudder, that, while therudder-blade, when deflected, fis .thrown entirely to the one or the other side lof fthe line ofthe keel, as in ordinary rudders, the powe' for sodeiecting it is applied through a crank, or its equivalent, connect-ed thereto at or near the middle of the surface of the blade, whereby the pressure of the water against the blade in one side of suoli point of attachment, will,"toa certain extent,- balance the pressure on the other side of suoli point.

For' this purpose, the rudder-blade is carried atcr ucar the middle of its surface by means of a crank or cranks, from a .vertical shaft,.supported, at its upper and lower ends, by .the hindmost part of the vessel, which crank or cranks, when in the fore and. aft po- `sitlon,` points or point toward the forward part of the vessel, and upon which crank or cranks the rudderblade is free to turn within the limits hereinafter described. On turning this crank rudder-shaft for the 4purpose of dcfiecting the rudder-blade, (that is, to

bring the helm over to port or starboarih) the whole of the mulder-blade is carried to either sidc of the line of the keel, the forward edge thereof bein-g, however, caused to remain in such line ofthe keel by means ot' a. pin or pins, fixed tothe said blade, sliding in a' slot or slots, fixed to. the vessel in the line of the kccl, or, in place of pins slidingiu slots,the forward edge of thc rudder-blade maybe kept in the line of the keel by being connected to any suitable known form of F parallel motion.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, I will now proceed more particularly to describe the manner of performing the same, Ifor which purpose I shall referI to the accompanying drawing, showing some of the various arrangemeutsby which my in vention may be carried into effect.

Figure 1 Sheet I, shown diagrams of the action :0f-the rudder. y

Figures 2 and 4, Sheet I, and Figure 8, Sheet II, showfsectional elevations of three -dierent arrangements of my improved rudder Figui-e3, YSheet I, showsja sectional X X, g; 2;

. Fie Y, fig. 4; n

Figure 9, Sheet II, shows a sectional plan on line Z Z, iig. 8; and

plan on line Figures 6 and 7, Sheet Il, show arrangements of steering-gear.. v =In all the gures a e is the rudder-blade, which may bel made of any suitable material orconfiguration. v This rudder-blade is divided, by its vvertical axis, u u, figs. 2 and 8, and an, tig. 4, into any suitable proportion of surface before and abaft the same.

This vertical axis may be formed either by means of a cranked rudder-shaft, as at b u u b, figs. 2 and 8, v or by pins carriedby cranks, arms, or levers, k 7s, fig.

4, fixed to a vertical shaft, b b. iig. 4.

Such cranked shaft or-cranks, when the rudder is in midships, (that is, in a fore and aft position,) points or point toward the bow of the vessel, and, when the shaft is turned to either side, the crank oil cranks, or arms carry the rudder-blade also over to the' same side; thus, figs.v 3 and 5 show, iu plan, the crank,- shaft and rudder deflected to the port side, and fig. 9 shows them dreiiectedI to the starboard side ofthe vesself- While beingso dialect-ed, thefore edge of the rudder-blade is maintained inthev line Vof the keel,.or nearly so, either by means` of one single arm, c e, fig. 8, fixed thereto, and working with a journabf, (coinciding with the fore edge. of the rudder, or nearly so,)

in a slotted frame, h, fixed in the line of the keel, the journal being made to turn in the sliding block g in the slot, or the blade is provided wit-l1 two suc-l1 arms, one at the upper and one at the lower extremity, as

sho'wn 'at e c, Iig. 2, .also working in slots', h 12,1 in the line of the keel; or, again, the fore edge then-udder-blade vmay carry a pin at any one or more points ure 5, sheet I, shows a sectional plan on liuc Y l in its vertical height, as at t' t', tig. 4, working in slotted arms, l1, in the line of the keel; or'the maintaining and guiding the motion ofthe fore edge of the rudder-blade in the line of' the keel might also be effected by connecting the arms,` journals, or pins to any suitable known arrangement of parallel motion.

By these arrangements it will be-seen that, as the rudder is carried over to the port or starboard side of the rudder; that is, referring to fig. 1, in which Z is the ,rudder-shaft, o thel crank-pin, and f the sliding pin or pivot, the angle of the rudder with the line of the keel is determined by the proportion ex isting between the length b o and the length of.

From this figure, representilig the rudder-blade (t j' as heilig deflected to different angles, it will he seen' that the pressux'e o? the water at right angles to the rudder-surface will, in its direction, approach nearer to that of the crtnk of' the rudder-shaft, until it arrives at a certain angle, when the pressure will be directly in a line with, and, consequently, borne by, thel shaft, removing thereby all or. nearly all strain fi'om the steering-gear.

v W'hen-the proportion of the crank-arm b o is to the vfore part of the rudder-blade o j', as 4 to 5, theI rudder-blade will be at right anglesto the crank or arms of the rudder-shaft when the rluldcr-bla'le is deflected to an angle of about thirty-eight and one-halfdegrees. This proportion, although by me considered the best,

may be varied, as also may the fore edge of' the rudder-blade be made not to correspond with the 'sliding pin` or pins, or pivots, 4the latter being, vif desired, made to-exteud further from the axis of the rudderbladeY than the fore edge of such blade.

In ease the rudder-bladeis carried by cranks or arms, fixed to a vertical shaft, as shown inlig. 4, ic -may he advisable to reduce the fore part of the rndder-blade, as indicated by the'dotted lines, whereby the after part can be triade to overbal'ance the fore part of the rudder-blade to any desirable extent, which will give a greater tendency to the rudder to right itself;

vthat is, to be forced'iiito the position of the line of the keel by the water which presses uponthe ruddersurface, either in consequence of the vessel moving ahead, or the screw-propeller driving a column of wa ter astern.

When it is desirable to throw part of the strain, which results from the pressure of the water against the rudder, on the sliding pin or pivot f, fig. 1, the

after part of the blade c o can h e reduced in surface,

whereby the fore part 0 f of the blade will overhalance it, and, part of the strain being taken by the .pin or pivot f, there will be 'less strain on the ruddershaft, which latter will -hence require less power to 'be turned. Altogether, I do not limit myself to any. proportion existing' between the fore and after part of the blade.

Figs. 2, 3, 4', 5, and 8 show how, by means of a plate, dal, the lower part of the mulder-shaft may be held in position, the said plate d d projecting abaft, and being provided with a suitable bearing, surrounding the end of a shaft at c.

The upper part of the shaft, where it enters the body Vof the vessel, may, in a simila'r manner, he held in a bearing, as shown in figs; 2 and 4, and may, besides,be supported on friction-rollers, as shown in lfigs. 8 and 9, where c c c are thefriction-rollers, resting on the surface of the bearing w.

Immediately above and resting on the friction-rollers is the arm or ltiller t, which latter is firmly secured to the shaft, and serves, also, to support the weight of' the rudder and theshaftby resting on the friction-rollers. l

The turning of the rudder-shaft b may be effected by simply fixing upon it the tiller t, as shown in figs. 2 ande, which tiller can be actuated by any suitable known arrangement of wheel and ropes; or, the pin or pivot f may be provided with an arm or lever, 'r rr, figs. 6, 7, and 8, this latter arm or lever being firmly secured to the said pin or pivot, and extending toward the bow of the vessel to any suitable length, to be moved by the hand, like the tiller of any small vessel or boat. l

Or, this last-named tiller, jr fr, lig. 7, may be ex hole or bearing, to embrace and work on a piu, o, figs. 6, 7, and 8, firmly secured to the tiller t, (or the pin o may be fixed to r fr, and work in a hole or 'bearing provided for it in the tller t; and, secondly, the tiller lr r, being extended sufciently abaft for that purpose, the said tiller fr 1' may have attached to its end, by any suitable means, the ropes or chains by means of which the steering-wheel may be made to pull the 4tiller yr, and, with it, the tiller t, and also the` rudder to either portor starboard, as indicated by the arrows p and 's, fig. 7.

Or, the end of the tiller r may be formed into acircular segment, q, iig. 6, round the pivot o, as a center, the circumference of the saidsegment meeting thecircumference of a pulley, m, figs. 6 and 8, which pulley fits loose'ou the projecting part of the ruddershaft b, or it may he fitted loose ona boss' of the ti|- ler t, thesaid boss being carried up high enough on the .shafttofexteud through the pulley, there to hear against a nut or acotter, screwed on or driven through the end of' the shaft. (This latter arrangement is not shown on the drawing.)

Both thesegment q, as-also the pulley m, are provided with two grooves, as shown in section in fig. 8, so that the chains or ropes, coming from the steeringwheel, maybe slung round the pulley and the segment, one end of the chain or rope in the upper, the

other in the lower groove, both ends being fastened tothe tiller 1.

'In fig. 6, the two arrows, p p and s s, indicate-the direction in which theropesyor vchains have to'be pulled for the purpose'of bringing the helm to port or starboard; that is, .the rudder to starboard or port.

.Or the chains `or ropes may be fastened to the pulley m, instead of being carried to the steering-wheel.

The latter may then he placed immediately above or i n front of the shaft b, and made to act on the pulley m by any known suitable mechanism or steering-gear,

as at present frequently applied to the shaft ofthe ordinary rudder. v

" Having thus described the nature of' my invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, l wish it torbe understood that l do not limit myself .to the arrangement of devices for shifting the rudderblade, shown on the accompanying drawing, as these may bevariously modified without departing from the nature of my invention; but

' What I claim is- '1. A'rudder-blade, hung at points intermediate between its forward and rear edges by means of a crank-shaft or crank-arms, whereby the rudder-blade, whendefiected, is thrown entirely to :the one or other side of' the'keel, substantially as described.

2. rlhe rudder- 'blade, hung as set forth in precedipg claim, connected, at or near its forward edge, either directly oI- byan interposed arm, with a guiding-slot, guide, or other lequivalent parallel motion,

whereby the forward edge of the rudder-blade shall In testimony I have signed my .name to this specibe held in or nearthe line 0f the keel, substantially ieaton' in the presence of two subscribing witnesses as described. this 25th day of April, 1870.

3. The tiller-arm 1', connecting the tiller t of -the CHARLES GO'DFREY GUMPEL. crank-axle b with the journal j' of the guiding-arm e, combined substantially as described. Witnesses:

4. The rudder-blade a, hung vin thecmnk-arms k, CEAS. D. ABEL, in combination wit-h pin a'. and slot h, substantially as JNO. MILLARD.

Villustrated. in figs. 4 and 5. 

